Keeping Faith
by Cassidy Alice
Summary: "I trust you with my life; in the kitchen…not so much."


_A/N: So, this is my first real foray into the PJO fandom, though I've been obsessed with the series for some time now. Honestly, I probably wouldn't have considered posting this if it hadn't been for a certain someone who has a birthday today and requested several Percabeth fics. So, happy birthday, Lara! It only took you a couple of years to convince me to read the series and obsess over it. Hope the wait was worth it. Happy readings!_

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. _

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**Keeping Faith**

Percy stared hard at the cookbook placed in front of him and frowned. It was bad enough having dyslexia and ADHD, but he couldn't concentrate with his mother's ceaseless chatter on the other end of the phone. Percy loved him mom to death but, honestly, her ability to talk until his ears fell off was rivaled by no one. Then again, he hadn't called her as of late, so he supposed she had a valid excuse for talking for a couple of hours. But, on the other hand, Percy visited her every weekend, so he didn't quite understand her need to talk and talk. But, he supposed, there were worse ways to spend his time, so he bore it all rather cheerfully and did his best to try and keep the conversation going while trying to read the cookbook. But, it didn't last very long, before Sally Jackson realized her son was occupied with trying to impress his girlfriend with (practically nonexistent) cooking skills and hung up.

Percy sighed in relief and placed the phone down. With no conversation to listen to, he turned his attention to the cookbook and struggled to read through it again. He didn't understand how people could find cooking such fun, but he guessed it was because they were used to reading the English language and not hardwired for Ancient Greek. Biting back a groan he stared at the page, even as the letters swam and changed before him, determined to figure this out.

That was how Annabeth found him, several minutes later, glaring at the book as if his inability to cook was its fault. She watched him for a few seconds before making her presence known.

"What are you doing, Seaweed Brain?"

"What does it look like?" He wondered.

"Honestly? It looks like you're having a staring contest with the book."

"I'm trying to make pizza."

"Pizza? I thought we were going out tonight. Wasn't Thalia supposed to meet us at some restaurant?"

Percy shook his head. "Change of plans, she said."

"Well, we could've still gone. Why are you cooking?" Annabeth demanded.

"I thought you wanted to study," he replied, shrugging. "I figured this way, we could have something we both like and you wouldn't have to leave your precious books."

Annabeth shook her head, laughing. Ever since they'd started college, Percy had teased her about being in love with her books. Once they'd both decided to share an apartment together, he'd teased her about how she'd replaced him with them. It was true when she wasn't with him, she was holed up in her room in their small apartment studying away. But even children of Athena needed to take a break every now and then. Annabeth had been looking forward to going out tonight since it was the weekend, but the idea of staying in wasn't entirely unwelcomed either. The only thing she was wary about was the pizza.

"Do you even know how to cook?" She wondered.

"I'm reading the cookbook. How hard can it be?" Percy replied.

"Judging by your staring contest, I'd say pretty hard."

"Well, I think I've got it." He said, rummaging through the cabinets for something.

Annabeth laughed. "Can I help?"

"No."

"Why not? You'll probably destroy the kitchen, otherwise."

"Hello, son of Poseidon here. I can put out a fire if it comes to that."

"That's not what I meant, Seaweed Brain," She said, running a hand through her blond curls.

"I can't believe you don't trust me in the kitchen," Percy said, feigning indignation and pouting.

Annabeth simply shrugged, hopping up on the counter and watching her boyfriend pour sauce over a misshapen pie that was to be their pizza.

"I trust you with my life; in our kitchen…not so much."

"I'm heartbroken," he answered.

"Well, can you blame me? You're really good at swordplay and killing monsters but you can't even make instant noodles properly, sometimes."

"That was one time," he protested. "And nothing bad happened."

"Percy, you blew up the microwave."

"And your point is?"

Annabeth laughed again. "You are such a seaweed brain. I don't even know why I date you."

"Because you can't resist me," he replied easily, sprinkling a generous serving of cheese atop their pizza. Annabeth watched him nervously, afraid he'd do something that would result in them paying for a new kitchen.

"I don't think that's it," she replied, laughing when Percy shot her a glare. "It's only because my options are severely limited."

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny."

The daughter of Athena just chuckled and watched her boyfriend sprinkle their favorite toppings onto the pizza. The apartment was silent for several minutes, before Annabeth caught sight of something small, black, and possibly evil, just inches from her place on the counter. She cried out in terror and launched herself as far away from the offender as she could, which incidentally happened to be into Percy. The son of Poseidon turned around, just in time for Annabeth to slam into him. It was only their quick reflexes that saved them both from tumbling to the ground.

"What's up, Owl head?" Percy asked, noticing his girlfriend looked pale. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

Annabeth must've been too terrified to comment on his liberal use of her nickname because she simply pointed to the counter.

"Spider," she squeaked.

"Close enough," Percy chuckled, examining the arachnid. Annabeth moved several steps back and shuddered. "Hey, Wise Girl, this is the tiniest spider ever."

"I don't care. Just get rid of it." She ordered, shuddering as the tiny creature moved.

"It's smaller than a penny, though. I mean, look at it."

"Percy!"

"Okay, okay," he laughed. "I'll take care of it."

He grabbed a paper towel and quickly disposed of it. Annabeth gave an audible sigh of relief once the spider was gone.

"I can't believe you're worried I'll destroy the kitchen and yet you trust me enough to kill spiders and monsters," Percy said, chuckling at her reaction.

"Those have nothing to do with each other," the daughter of Athena pointed out, watching him warily as he shoved their dinner into the oven, and closed it.

"Whatever. I still don't understand why you're worried about me cooking. I'm not that bad."

"We'll see once the pizza's done."

Admittedly, it took some time. They managed to finish a documentary by the time Percy realized he hadn't even turned on the oven. After that, they had to wait for it to cook and then cool a bit before they could finally eat it. When they did, Annabeth was pleasantly surprised to note it didn't taste bad and told Percy had much. The son of Poseidon grinned, his green eyes twinkling.

"A daughter of Athena finally admits she's wrong? Gods of Olympus."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she laughed. "Just eat your pizza."

"Now that I've made such awesome pizza, I bet I can do so much more."

"Like what?"

"Well, anything really. Pasta, maybe. Or desserts."

"We'll see."

"So, does this mean you trust me in the kitchen now?" Percy demanded.

Annabeth shrugged. "If you want it to."

"And around the apartment?"

Annabeth shook her head and laughed. "Don't push your luck, Seaweed Brain."


End file.
